The latest generation Mercedes-Benz E-Class, launched barely months ago, has won the most prestigious award for luxury cars in India, the Premium Car award by ICOTY, for 2025! Mercedes-Benz has only launched the long wheelbase version of the E-Class in India since the previous generation and the new car only takes the sedan’s game to the next level. What’s also worth noting here is that the BMW 5 Series, which is the closest rival of the E-Class was also launched in its latest avatar last year, in long wheelbase form, and was the first runner-up in the points tally this year, finishing a close second behind the E-Class. The second runner-up for this year’s Premium Car by ICOTY award was the Kia Carnival, which again saw a generation change last year following the immense success of the previous version that was sold in India.
While the full list of contenders for the Premium Car award for 2025 was a long one, the eminent jury had shortlisted 8 cars for the jury round, and besides the E-Class, 5 Series and Carnival, the list included names like the Mercedes-Benz EQS 580 SUV, Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680, BYD Seal, BMW i5, BMW M5 and the new generation Mini Cooper S too. The winner was announced at a gala dinner held in New Delhi in the presence of the who’s who of the Indian automotive industry, including the top bosses from every Indian automotive brand, which is also a nod to the ICOTY’s importance as India’s most prestigious automotive award.
The Mercedes-Benz E-Class was announced winner by Dr Raghupati Singhania, MD, JK Tyre and Industries along with a representative from Deloitte, responsible for validating the scoring process and also knowledge partner for ICOTY, besides all the ICOTY jury members. What’s also interesting is the fact that in its 20th year this year, the ICOTY had the largest jury ever, including as many as 21 of India’s leading automotive journalists! Besides being highly experienced themselves (we’re talking a collective experience of 408 years of evaluating automobiles!), these are journalists representing India’s leading automotive publications.
This year’s jury, besides Abhay Verma, Editor and Publisher, TURBOCHARGED, included Dhruv Behl, ICOTY 2025 Chairman and also Editor in Chief and Founder, AutoX, Ishan Raghava, Managing Editor, AutoX, Yogendra Pratap, Editor Auto Today, Dipayan Dutta, Assistant Editor, Auto Today, Aspi Bhathena, Editor, Car India, Joshua Varghese, Principal Correspondent, Car India, Sirish Chandran, Editorial Director, evo India, Aatish Mishra, Assistant Editor, evo India, Pablo Chaterji, Editor, Motoring World, Kartik Ware, Managing Editor, Motoring World, Kranti Sambhav, Editor, OVERDRIVE, Rohit Paradkar, Assistant Editor, OVERDRIVE, Vikrant Singh, Editorial Director, CarWale and CarTrade, Sagar Bhanushali, Deputy Editor, CarWale, Ameya Dandekar, Editor in Chief, CarDekho and Zigwheels, Arpit Mahendra, Editor, Times of India Auto, Kushan Mitra, Contributing Editor – Automotive, The Print, Cyrus Dhabhar, Editor in Chief, PowerDrift, Ashish Masih, Editor, Times Drive and independent journalist Bob Rupani.
The jury round for the ICOTY was held at the Buddh International Circuit, Greater Noida last month, where the jury evaluated the shortlisted contenders on the basis of various parameters, including but not limited to pricing, relevance to the segment, innovation, design, quality, features, comfort, safety, performance, practicality and more, before casting their votes.
